Ten Years Worth Of Precious Memories
by unicornndragon
Summary: AU- It is good to forget, many would say. But where's the good in forgetting if it will only put the people around you in further danger?
1. Prologue

**AN: Ookay, this is my first KHR fanfiction. Some of you might have read this before since I had posted this very fanfiction under the title _'The Director, The Hitman and The Amnesiac'_** **a couple of months ago but i decided to take it down for a bit since I need to do a bit of an adjustment (okay, a LOT) of it since this fanfic was first done at the spur of the moment.**

**Warnings: Yaoi, boyxboy**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.**

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><p>He was aware of it. The unmistakable voice that belonged to his mother was toned with sadness. Of what, he didn't know. But he could tell from the hoarseness that she had been crying. He could hear how she choked on every word as if she was pained with something.<p>

He was wondering why she was reciting out every bits of their memories together.

"...Tsu-Tsuna-kun. I remember how you would hide your test papers from me. I remember how you were afraid that I would be disappointed with the scores that you get for your tests. But…. But I thought you would be able to get the message that I had been trying so hard to convey to you. I can never be angry with you, Tsuna," a choked sob interrupted her speech. "…I can never be angry with you."

"…In fact I know that you have tried your best."

He wanted her to stop talking. He couldn't bear hearing her talk in that tone even though he didn't know why she talked like that. It was unusual for his mother to sound so down. She only acted like this whenever his father didn't return home.

Speaking of which, why was he pretending to close his eyes when his mother was obviously pouring her heart to him?

He suddenly felt an immense pain in his head. It was as if someone had just shot an arrow through his brain. He became more aware of the various pains that he felt on various parts of his body: His head felt like it had been sliced in half, his back ached as if he had been staying in one posture for days, his arms and legs felt numb as if he hadn't been moving for days and his chest felt heavy as if there was an invisible weight placed on it – not to mention the fact that his stomach felt like it had been sliced open.

But he shook the thoughts away. Maybe a miracle had happened. He was now able to sleep without moving too much and just stay in one in one place in one single posture throughout the night. And he felt hot sometime during the night so he pulled his pyjama top over his stomach.

After all, he had gone straight to bed after he had done all his homeworks last night. So there was no better explanation than that.

He tried to open his eyes but his eyelids felt heavy as if he had not opened his eyes for a long time. He must have slept for nine hours straight. His eyelids felt like it had been glued to one another and as soon as his eyes were opened wide enough to let the light attacked his retina, he immediately closed it back.

It felt as if his optic nerves were sending thousands of signals more than usual to his brain causing his brain to constrict at the rush of information. The headache was unlike what he usually had when he woke up; it was ten times worse. Did he drink last night?

He waited for a few seconds for himself to grow accustomed to the headache. When it started to subside for a bit, he counted to three and tried his luck for a second time. This time, the bright ray of white light, again, attacked his eyes but unlike earlier, it only caused him to squint.

He heard a gasp beside him and he could only guess that it was his mother. He was Dame-Tsuna after all, so who else would visit him other than his mother and father?

He forced himself to move his arms but despite his effort, he only managed to make his fingers twitched. It felt numb but it didn't felt like he wouldn't be able to move it. He tried to at least sit up, and he did it so slowly as if he didn't have much energy to move.

_Crack._

He had never felt so weak. How long had he slept, really? He couldn't feel his body anymore. Even though he knew how weak he was, it was never this vulnerable. He felt as if one wrong move would break his bones into half.

"Tsuna-kun!" He heard his mother exclaimed, voice relieved and surprised and thankful at the same time. He thought he heard the chair fell down but he shook the thought away.

He turned his head slowly towards his mom but the stand with a bag of blood hung on it connected to a length of tube attracted his attention. He felt his eyes widened slightly when he saw a needle was pricked into his arm, his mind slowly processing where he was. He looked around the room, on his bed, on the side table. _White. White. _And more _white_. He was in a hospital room!

But…didn't he go to bed last night? Wasn't the headache because he had been drinking? He knew he was still a minor but knowing his father who had always being trying to make him take at least a sip from his bottle of sake, it was possible.

He caught his reflection from the picture frame of when he was seven unintentionally and his breath hitched. Who….who was that? Was that really him? Why…..did he look older? His hair looked longer but….but he looked so different. His facial structure looked more sharper but his cheeks were hollow as if he had not been eating right for days.

"O…Okaa-san," he started, noting how hoarse his voice was. "W-What happ-" a glass of water was given to him and he nodded thankfully after the person let him took a few sips from it. He ignored the how sore his throat felt as he gulped it down. He tried again, "What happened?"

"J-Juudaime…You don't remember?"

_What don't I remember? _

"Tsuna-kun," there it was again, the choked out words. "How…." She let out a strained giggle, "Don't play with okaa-san."

He turned to his mother. His eyes must be expressing his confuse as his mother immediately broke down, muttering _'he doesn't remember'_ again and again. In the back of his mind, he heard a long string of curses which made him turn to the person who let him drink the water. His eyed processed the silver-haired stranger who didn't look the last bit Japanese. He watched as tears ran down the stranger's face and even as the stranger punched the wall.

_Who is he?_

_Why is he crying?_

_Why is okaa-san crying?_

His eyebrows furrowed.

_What did he forget?_

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><p><strong>AN: Review? ^_^<strong>_  
><em>


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: Thank you to those who reviewed, favourited and alerted. I really appreciate it. :3 I think I need to point this out before someone mentions it. I know that it canon, Tsuna was 14 when he met Reborn but in this story, it is only when he is 16 that he is exposed to the Mafia world. Now, on to the first chapter of the story.**

**Summary: AU- Sawada Tsunayoshi, an amnesiac. He woke up with no memories of his life ten years prior. Surrounded by strangers, and some acquaintances, he is forced to remember the reason why he forgot in the first place. For whatever he had forgotten is the key to solve the problems arising within and around the Vongola Famiglia.**

**Warning: Yaoi, BoyxBoy, Shonen-ai (I haven't really thought of the pairing yet but personally I want it to be either R27 or 1827**. **Well, that's just my thought. You guys can request though. But 8059 is definite here. ;) )**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.**

***Edited on 24/12/2011- I am sorry for the inconvenience! But I accidentally uploaded the old version of this chapter but now I've replaced it. But there's not much change though, just a couple of words that hinted that most people don't know about Tsuna's predicament. Again, I'm truly sorry!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

"Follow the light," a doctor instructed him, bringing the torch light from left to right and to left again.

His eyes followed the light. Left. Right. Left. Right. He didn't really know why the doctor asked him to do something like this but something in his mind told him that he would get answers if he would just do as what the doctor told him to. He felt his eyes stung as the light rushed in but it didn't hurt much compare to the first time he opened his eyes earlier.

The doctor looked as if he had just accomplished something as he brought the torch down and went to write something on a piece of paper. "Do you know what month it is today, Tsunayoshi-kun?"

"It's October."

He nodded in affirmation. "Then do you know what year it is?"

"2008."

That got the doctor to look up, stopping in the middle of his writing. His eyes were questioning to whether he was hearing right but instead of asking the same question, he asked another. "How old are you, Tsunayoshi-kun?"

"I've just turned 16," he answered, vaguely aware of the hiccup that emitted from someone at his words.

His doctor's expression remained neutral, nothing betrayed what he actually felt at that time. He looked at the younger male in the eyes for a while as if trying to decipher something. Tsuna could see that he was trying to find out whether he was lying or not but he didn't understand why. Why would he lie about his age?

The older man turned his eyes to the only female occupant of the room. "Sawada-san, may I talk with you outside?"

Not trusting her voice to say anything, Sawada Nana just nodded.

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><p>"Here's your room," the silver-haired man said, keeping the door open for the Decimo before he himself went in to place a duffel bag containing the Decimo's belongings on a couch.<p>

Tsuna just nodded, feeling strangely calm seeing the delinquent-like stranger. Usually, he would already be on the verge of peeing in his pants when seeing such a person. But there were many different things about him, the one that struck him the most was the lack of his clumsiness.

He wanted to scream when his mother told him that she couldn't pick him up early that morning and that '_Gokudera-kun_' would pick him up in her stead. But he couldn't. Somehow, he could feel that he was on safe hands. This lone fact surprised him as under normal circumstances, he would stay away from a potential bully at all cost. But this Gokudera…. His heart seemed to trust him more than he could believe.

He was extremely surprised when he found himself being brought to a mansion and regretted the moment when he put his guard down in the taller man's presence. Wheels were turning in his mind as he thought of ways to run as soon as he got out of the car but noting the man's more muscular built, he knew that he would be pulled back the moment he tried. So he thought of ways to outsmart the man. But nothing came to his mind. Nothing at all. So he still kept a bit of his Dame-ness after all.

It wasn't as he expected when some of the mansion's staffs burst out of the entrance and asked if _Sawada-sama _was alright. It wasn't their lack of manners that had his mind went into an overdrive but it was the fact that they _cared _for him. For years had he been known as Dame-Tsuna and he couldn't think of one time when a person actually showed him such warmth other than from his parents. People always avoided him as they believed that his Dame-ness was contagious and they didn't want to get any of his clumsiness or his luck-lacked life.

But it seemed like he gained fortunes over the years. His room was big and spacey, unlike the room he was familiar with. The coffee table – where Gokudera had put the gifts on earlier – was made of the finest marble, the type that he could only gawk at when his mom asked for his help when going over a furniture catalogue. A fireplace was installed in front of the table, the wall there designed with some stones giving a 'nature' kind of feel. Thick dark curtains that looked extravagant yet simple covered every window in the room. In the middle of the room was a large king-sized bed that almost all wealthy people seemed to own.

While he was gawking, he was unaware of the silver-haired lad fidgeting with his hands, obviously uncomfortable and at loss at what to say. His eyes were glazed with something unreadable as he unconsciously said out loud, "Juudaime."

Tsunayoshi didn't respond.

A downcast expression made its way to Gokudera's face.

"I'll be going now. Don't hesitate to call me if you need… assistance."

It was only a few seconds after he walked out that Tsunayoshi had realized that he was left alone in the room.

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><p>As soon as he closed the door separating him from his amnesiac Juudaime, he let his emotions showed. He waited until he was sure that his Boss wasn't going to throw the door open in panic (he was sure that if Juudaime couldn't remember about the past ten years events, he would be acting like how he did. So the idea of him trying to escape was possible) and only then did he let his emotions controlled him.<p>

His body broke into a shaking mess as tears began to cascade down his face. He gulped down the sobs that threatened to escape, not wanting his dearest Juudaime to find him looking like that. He knew it was stupid to cry in front of his Juudaime's room when he didn't want him to see him like that but he had kept it in for too long. It was already bad enough that he had broken down in front of his Juudaime at the hospital yesterday, going so much as to shout at the doctor to help Juudaime gain back his memories.

It was only yesterday that he found out that his Juudaime had lost memories of some events. At first, he had hoped that the only thing that Juudaime had forgotten about was of the fight. Never had the thought of him forgetting about the events the past ten years ever crossed his mind.

Once he got back home from the hospital (actually, he was thrown out of there when he almost got violent on the doctor, hands sneaking inside his coat to grab on the dynamite that seemed to fit in there), he immediately locked himself up in the safety of his room. The servants of the mansion was worried seeing the blank expression on their usually _lively _Gokudera-sama. They then shrugged it off, thinking that he was simply stressed out by the side-job he was doing.

He stayed in the confinements of his room, his emotions on edge. Desperate to hang on the hope that his Juudaime had only forgotten about the fight, he went on to the internet and search for every single amnesia-related information. Although he had found a couple assuring statements, some were not.

He had remembered the doctor telling him that the amnesia his beloved Juudaime had might be related to the head injury he was sporting. The hit, he was warned, might just cause some damage to his brain causing a couple of memories to jumble up so there was a chance (a large and unwelcomed one) that Juudaime's long-term memories would be transferred to his short-term memory box. If not, it was purely a psychological defense mechanism that prevented Juudaime from recalling those memories, but it was highly unlikely since not once had the Juudaime being traumatized. He would know, since he had always stayed by his Juudaime's side for the past ten years.

Except for when the fight happened.

At that thought, a sob slipped out of his control.

He should have stayed with his Juudaime and not go to his instruments shop, _Musicista Rifugio_, to get a couple of paperworks done. The only reason why he went was because his Juudaime told him to, saying that there was nothing for him to do in the mansion and that he would call for him if something came up. He was reluctant at first, that on the third day he was tempted to just call his Juudaime and asked to update him on things happening in the mafia world. But Juudaime specifically asked him to finish all his jobs first and be a responsible businessman, meaning he didn't want him to call until his job there was done. The next thing he knew while being cooped up in the paperworks were that his Juudaime had been badly injured, to the point that he had fallen into a coma.

He couldn't believe the information at first so he phoned the servants in the mansion, not caring who would pick it up. When one of the maids picked it up in a cheery voice, he noted that she did not know about it so he kept his voice calm and his tone normal when he asked where the Juudaime was.

_"Decimo? He went out for a mission two weeks ago. Didn't he tell you about that, Gokudera-sama?"_

He didn't. Despite that fact, he struggled to lie saying that he didn't expect the mission to be _that _long, wishing that the maid didn't catch on the stutter that sneaked into his words.

'_Mission? What mission?'_

The thought left unanswered in his mind as he immediately left his shop to rush to the hospital.

He should have stayed even though Juudaime told him not to. After all, the other Guardians were not around.

He wondered why he was stupid enough to give in despite the paranoia that he had screaming at him that something bad would happen if he left Juudaime alone.

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><p>Yamamoto Takeshi always smiled as camera lights flashed on his face. His smile didn't waver at all as questions were thrown at him, some meant to hurt and insult, some meant to praise and other completely neutral. He was ready for this. The first time he attended a press conference because of the name he made in the baseball field, he was shocked by how unforgiving and cold reporters could be. But he recovered not long after noting how he could think of this as the same thing when an enemy was trying to rile him up during his mission.<p>

His club manager fretted over him after that. He seemed to do that to every of his players, saying that he just didn't want any of his players to be physically or emotionally injured during the upcoming games. The seasons might be over but there was still the friendly match. They had a name to maintain. His players though knew that he was actually really worried.

Yamamoto, though, just laughed it off saying, "No worries, old man. I had fun."

To which he received blank stares from his teammate. They then panicked over the fact that their star player might have just said careless and unnecessary comments during the talk.

The next time he went to a press conference, he surprised the reporter with the naturally-flowing answers coming out of his mouth. They weren't surprised of the answers coming out smoothly as many stars seemed to have the ability to make everything seemed to be the truth. They were aware of the fact that many had spent hours practicing their answers, expressions and tones in front of a mirror.

However, the answers coming out of this Yamamoto Takeshi seemed so honest that they thought that either he was a really good actor or simply an idiot. There was no way that one in entertainment industries (whether it is in the sports departments or acting or singing, etc.) would survive telling personal things about themselves without the information being manipulated to bring that one star to shame.

But it didn't look like he cared. He told things after things. The atmosphere in the room was as easy-going as the focus of the occupants. The man seemed to have the ability to make the press conference felt like a meeting between childhood friends with questions being asked and answered. The only difference was that both questioning and answering are one-sided.

One day, the club manager decided to give his players their much awaited vacation and to say that Yamamoto was excited was an understatement. He had always wanted to go back to Italy after spending almost eight months in Japan without seeing his best friends. Well, he did go and stayed there for about a week six months ago but that didn't count since it was Tsuna who called him there at that time for a sudden meeting about the mafia family that seemed to have gotten close with most of Vongola's allies. So that didn't count since he didn't really get the chance to spend some time with his best friends at all.

Don't get him wrong, he did enjoy his stay in Japan. He visited Hibari in their hometown once in a while but the ex-prefect seemed to always be busy with developing Namimori and _biting people who dared to break the rules to death_. There was also the fact that the man seemed not to like the visit he was getting, claiming that _he would never stoop so low so as to hang out with a herbivore_.

Yamamoto laughed then, saying, "Maa, maa, you're only saying that. You always hang out with us back in Italy."

That earned him a hard hit on the head from the ex-prefect's precious tonfa. "That's purely business," Hibari had growled out before proceeding to knocked the living daylights off the baseball star.

But that was different. The ex-prefect has a presence of his own, completely different from his best friends'. He missed his best friends' presence.

He couldn't wipe off the wide smile on his face when he walked out of the airport, letting the cold Venice air embraced him in welcome.

"Tsuna, Gokudera, I'm back."

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><p>The brunette was conscious of how dry his skin felt and the smell that he no doubt gave out. Luckily it was compressed by the fresh set of clothes he changed into early that morning. Who knew how long he was unconscious and stuck in the hospital gown that the nurse no doubt threw out to burn or something. It must have smelled, a lot.<p>

Deciding to take a shower, he approached the first door he saw and opened it. He gaped as instead of a bathtub or simply a shower head hanging on the wall greeting him (he figured that the mansion couldn't be more extravagant than it already was), sitting in his line of sight were sets of attires arranged separately according to events and colours. There were even a built-in glass cupboard where many accessories were positioned, gleaming in a way that hinted the many zeroes it cost. Shoes were arranged in a completely different shelf, the top ones sporting formal foot wears and the low ones sporting more casual pairs.

Despite being told that this was indeed his room, he threw his head around to look for another door. He felt like he was intruding into someone's privacy because there was no way that someone like him would have a closet as big as this. What had he been doing these past few years? A frown made its way to his face when no other door greeted him. He had assumed that there would be a private bathroom installed in the place. He had watched so many movies and in every one of them a big room equals to a private bathroom.

Fuelled by the desperation to shower, he turned determinedly to the large closet. The bathroom had to be in the room somewhere.

"Sorry for intruding," he squeaked out.

Steps after steps, he felt more at ease. As long as he didn't really turn around to be caught in awe at seeing the stuffs in the room, it wouldn't be count as intruding. Well, it was his room in the first place but he just couldn't seem to be able to accept that fact. Funny how he could accept the dangerous looking silver-haired male as no one harmful when the thought of this obviously innocent room being his scared the living daylights out of him for no reason.

As he walked deeper and deeper into the room, he finally saw a wide white two-sided door. He found it suspicious somehow for a large door to be hidden deep inside the closet but he pushed it open anyway.

It turned out there was nothing to be suspicious about but Tsuna was shocked still.

He took back his words when he said that the mansion could not be more extravagant than it already was because the bathroom connected to the room (or specifically closet) looked like it was designed for the Kings. Closest to the door was a glass cube in which there was a shower head. Few steps beside it was a toilet made from marble. Across the shower stall was a wide bathtub which, he was sure, was able to fit three to four people. He dared himself to take another steps into the bathroom, not wanting to be more rendered surprise at how easily the owner of this mansion spend his money into the construction of (only!) this bathroom.

Few steps ahead of the bathtub was the sink situated on a wide table-like top complete with a mirror on the wall. It was most probably the only normal part of the place. The brunette then noticed another door just near where he was standing. A foreboding feeling came to him. Ignoring it, he just laughed it off uneasily and proceeded to open the door. And wished he hadn't.

He only caught a glimpse for he immediately closed the door but there was no doubt that what he saw was a Jacuzzi tub.

Erasing the image from his mind, he took off his attire and went to the shower stall.

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><p>"Nana-san, please understand. I don't want the news of Juudaime's condition to spread to other people," Gokudera told his Juudaime's mother over the phone. "Tell Iemitsu-san to not let this news reach Reborn-san."<p>

Nana let out a surprised sound from the other line, exclaiming, "Why not? Reborn-kun, of all people, should know about this. You know how close he is to Tsuna-kun, Gokudera-kun."

"That is exactly why he shouldn't know," he forced out, knowing the hell he would be going through once the hitman learnt of these unwelcomed event. "Juudaime sent him out for an important job," he attempted to reason, careful not to mention much about the mafia even though the CEDEF's leader's wife already know about their field of occupation. "I'm sure that Juudaime wouldn't want him to return with the job half done."

Nana protested, saying that Tsuna's closeness with the hitman might be able to help Tsuna to get his memories back. But Gokudera didn't deterred. It was absolutely crucial that Reborn did not know about this. He did not know what exactly the mission Juudaime sent the older man on was. The hitman always preferred to choose his mission instead of having one assigned to him because as Reborn had said he was the number one hitman in the world, and that answer itself was self-explanatory.

After a few minutes or so, Nana finally relented.

The actual reason why he didn't want Reborn to know was actually because few months back just a few days after Reborn left for his mission, his Juudaime had said, "Whatever happens, don't tell Reborn."

And when he asked why, his Juudaime just smiled saying, "I just don't want him to lose focus."

He was questioning it, that obvious lie his Juudaime had given him. The hitman never lose his focus before, always carrying out his missions smoothly. He then reprimanded himself of doubting his Juudaime and stopped himself from voicing his voice out loud.

He was Juudaime's right-hand man, and the Juudaime's orders were absolute.

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><p>Tsunayoshi was at lost at what to do. His room might be big but there was not a sign of an entertainment that could satiate his boredom. Well there was a shogi board placed under the coffee table that looked so out of place in the Western décor of the room. He wondered why it was there in the first place. He had sworn off the game when he was eleven when he was badly humiliated during a friendly game with his classmates. That game had been one of the things that urged people to call him Dame-Tsuna.<p>

He then dropped himself on the bed, staring at the ceiling. For someone who was just told the he had amnesia, his mind was strangely blank. Aside from the shock earlier at seeing so many changes to himself and everything around him, he couldn't think of anything much. Things in the mansion and the people living and working within it felt familiar to him but that was all. It didn't bring up a memory at all.

Maybe this amnesia thing took time and he was rushing it. He didn't know how it worked, seeing that he had never encountered anyone suffering the same thing before. Something told him that under any normal circumstances, people would panic. But he didn't. However, he wasn't calm at that knowledge either so he guessed he was acting normal enough.

Well, he couldn't deny the curiosity to know what he had forgotten about. Ten years is a large gap and it felt weird knowing that you had experienced something that changed you a lot yet not having a memory of it.

And then there was that something in his head whispering that he should wake up to his senses. But it was inaudible, leading him to think that he was only hearing things.

He had only, after all, forgotten about some things. Not having his mind up high in the clouds.

He felt the drowsiness engulfing him, his eyelids starting to get heavy and heavier with each passing thoughts.

He didn't want to sleep. He wanted to know more about himself. He wanted to go through his things even though he didn't want to. This twenty-six year old him was a stranger to him, having things that he was sure he wouldn't have his whole life and leading a life that he could only dream of having. Just being in this room was enough to make him feel like he was intruding. But he had a lot to catch up on.

But his eyes was stubborn, drooping down even though he willed them not to.

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><p>Gokudera walked into the office as calm as he could after throwing a cautious glance around the hallway. No one would be suspicious though seeing the Decimo's right-hand man entering the office. They knew that the silver-haired male helped Decimo to finish his paperwork once in a while.<p>

He walked towards the large mahogany table in the room supporting large stacks of paperworks. His eyes skilfully scanned through the surface of the table yet the he found only unsigned contracts.

He needed to know what the mission was, there had to be something that imply what it was. It wasn't that he didn't trust his Juudaime but he needed to find out something. It was unusual for his Juudaime to be badly injured. It was even more unusual for his Juudaime to assign himself on a mission when Gokudera was obviously free (the business paperworks didn't matter). Whoever this enemy was, he was a force to be reckoned with to be able to almost wipe out the strong Vongola Decimo.

He then moved on to the drawers. With obvious hesitance, he shakily placed his hand on the handle. He didn't want to do this, to intrude on Juudaime's privacy but he had no choice. The hint could be anywhere on the table and if he wanted to erase the enemy from existence, he had to go a bit against his respect for his Juudaime's privacy.

It was unfortunate that the door was thrown open almost as soon as he was about to pulled the drawer.

Panic evident in his face, he ducked under the table. He restrained himself from letting out a string of curses when his head hit the desk hard. He held his breath, careful not to make even the slightest movement. He was about to do something unforgiveable earlier and he did not want to be found out for it. He was supposed to be the right-hand-man, damn it! He was not supposed to go through his Juudaime's things!

He swore in his mind when he heard footsteps getting closer to the desk he was hiding under. His eyes darted everywhere, desperate to know where the footsteps were coming from in case he needed to turn to violence. Snaking his hand under his coat to the hand gun that he kept hidden there, he let his senses flare. He was sure that whoever it was who had entered the room was getting closer to where he was hiding if the increase in volume of the footsteps was any indication.

He wasn't going to hurt – well… maybe a bit. But he wouldn't kill. His plan was to threaten and if that didn't work –

Jumping out from under the desk, with a quick and smooth move he placed the end of the gun on the unfortunate person's head. A click was heard as he set the revolver to shoot.

Only, he wasn't the only one on alert. Something cold and thin and sharp was pressed on a vital nerve in his neck, ready to kill.

They acted purely by instinct aided by a wave of adrenaline. After they calmed enough to actually see the other did they show their surprise at seeing the other's identity.

"Gokudera?"

"Baseball freak?"

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><p>Awkward moments later, the two finally sat down on the couch placed in the room but the tense air had yet to disappear.<p>

Surprisingly, it was Gokudera who broke the silence, his nerve on the verge of breaking and his temper returning at full blast at seeing his rival.

"What are you doing here, baseball freak? I thought you weren't going to come back for another month or so."

With a sheepish laugh, he answered truthfully, "I was going to surprise you and Tsuna. We were given a week of vacation by the manager. A rest before the game, he said."

The silver-haired male snorted, "There's no such thing as 'rest' here."

"…"

"…"

Yamamoto observed the edgy shorter male for a few seconds. He didn't know what it was but there was something different about him. As if… "Did something happen?"

Gokudera's gaze snapped up to him almost immediately and he knew right then that something did happen. "Why are you asking, baseball freak?"

The growl seemed strained, an out-of-place emotion in it. Albeit, the baseball star was unable to tell. An uncharacteristic serious look came to his brown eyes, "You were under the table, Gokudera."

He pulled back a hiss. He should have acted more normally earlier. This wouldn't have happened if he just pretended to sign the paperworks and say that Juudaime was taking a rest in his room.

'_Juudaime…'_

"Where's Tsuna?"

"He's resting," he answered curtly.

Yamamoto would have accepted the reply had he not detect the very emotion he heard earlier. He knew that Gokudera refused to tell him whatever had happened but his instinct was telling him that he needed to know.

Deciding to cut to the chase, he said the four words that would no doubt rile the already short-tempered man in front of him.

"I don't believe you."

He received a snarl as a response. "I don't care if you don't believe me, baseball freak. I got more important matters to attend to than to sit down here and listen to your crappy stories."

"More important than sitting under that table?"

"You know nothing."

"Then tell me."

"Don't push your fucking luck, stupid baseball freak! I have a bad day already as it is. You suddenly appearing in the mansion doesn't help one-"

"What happened to Tsuna?"

Just like that, Gokudera let all the things happening from when he was informed about Juudaime being in the hospital to why he was in the office now. Throughout the conversation, Yamamoto didn't say anything and his expression was unreadable.

For the first time though, the usually cheerful baseball star couldn't make himself smile. A frown was instead found lining his lips.

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><p><strong>AN: I apologize if the characters act a bit (or a lot) OC-ish. English isn't my native tongue so please do point out if there is some mistake. :D Please leave a review and tell me what you think of the chapter! Reviews urge me to write and who knows, maybe it will make me produce a new chapter quicker. :D<br>**


	3. Chapter 2

**AN: Well, this is the second chapter to this fanfic. I'm working on a oneshot and the second chapter of The Contract now. Both will be out soon. :3**

**Warnings: Yaoi, boyxboy**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

Messy brown hair peeked out through the comforter as the figure under the blanket tossed and turned with the material wrapped tightly around his body. He was very much awake but he was reluctant to leave the safety of his room.

He was in a foreign country; that much he knew. The doctor who was responsible for him was talking in accented Japanese. Even the servants who fretted over him were talking in Japanese, albeit broken and always mixed with a language that he couldn't put a finger on.

He wanted his mother to be there. Even though he felt that the mansion was very familiar, he still felt strange. He didn't have any memory of it so the thought of the mansion as something like, dare he say it, home was freaking him out. At least if his mother was there, he would be more at ease.

Immediately, he sat up. If this was indeed his home, then his mother would be somewhere here in the building, no? Yes, she should. There was absolutely no way he would leave his mother alone! There was no way that he would leave his home country without someone familiar accompanying him!

His thoughts, however, was broken at the sight that greeted him. There, sitting on the couch just behind the coffee table was a man with dark spiked-up hair. The man had his back turned to him but the sight of some other person in his room was enough to scare him.

"Hiiieee!"

His breath hitched when the man turned around at his squeal. He shouldn't have screamed! It would have been better if he instead hid himself under the comforter and prayed that the man did not see him sitting up at all! It was better if he acted like a shivering mess under the blanket!

He didn't expect the man to be someone he knew though. He was older and looked more mature than he remembered but there was no denying that it was the same person he knew. The black hair, the shining brown eyes, the tanned skin…

"Yamamoto?"

There was a flash of something in the other's eyes. Hope. The man began to smile, slowly but it was still a smile. "Morning, Tsuna," the baseball player greeted him in his usual cheerful way. "Come here, the maids brought in your breakfast some time ago."

The brunette was still sporting a look of disbelief on his face. Sure, he had smelt food earlier but thought nothing of it thinking that his room was close to the kitchen (though, now that he actually thought of it, it was very much unlikely with the mansion being elaborately big as it was). It was the fact that the man was in room that startled him. He didn't hear the door opening at all! Granted, he didn't hear the maids bringing in his breakfast either. He might have still been sleeping when they…. '_Wait, so does that mean he was in even before the maids?'_

A look of understanding came to Yamamoto's face as he laughed sheepishly. "I knocked earlier but you didn't answer so I invited myself in." He then turned to the front while rubbing the side of his neck.

His action brought Tsuna out of his stupor, causing him to jump off the bed. It must be uncomfortable for him to turn to talk to him like that. The man obviously had broken into his room but that didn't change the fact that he was a visitor. What else could he be doing in her if not visiting him?

He failed to position his feet on the floor though due to his rashness, and instead he managed to fell down face first on the floor with some parts of the comforter clung stubbornly onto his feet. Just when he was starting to be glad about losing his stubbornness too…

The baseball star laughed at the act of clumsiness, a wave of nostalgia washing through him. Despite being trained harshly by Reborn through unbelievable methods that strangely actually worked, Tsuna never seemed to lose his clumsiness. He was actually glad that he didn't, Tsuna's clumsiness is what made Tsuna Tsuna.

Embarrassed, the brown-haired adult excused himself to brush his teeth and made his way to the bathroom.

The brunette was acting just like he usually did when they did not have any important business to discuss about, just like the best friend he knew so well. His heart soared. There was a chance that Tsuna didn't completely lose his memories from ten years ago. He actually remembered his name.

The smile on his face upgraded to a full-blown grin.

Few minutes later, Tsuna finally emerged from the closet connected to the bathroom and sat himself on the couch. He looked placid, his eyes showing the usual kindness he had.

Yamamoto didn't dare hope but with how normal the brunette was acting, it could not be avoided.

"You look thin, Tsuna," Yamamoto pointed out, causing the brunette to abruptly turned to him. He crouched down on the floor and proceeded to take off the cover revealing Tsuna's surprisingly normal breakfast of toast and omelette, a small box of jam and butter spread were placed separately on a tray with some silverwares. "You should eat more. I heard Gokudera telling the chefs to cook your favourite meals for lunch."

Tsuna hesitantly sat on the floor when Yamamoto gestured at him to do so. He wanted to tell the man that he could do it himself when the baseball player asked him if he preferred orange or strawberry spread. But he didn't. So he just mumbled, "Strawberry."

He nibbled on his sandwich quietly and slowly when Yamamoto broke down into stories. He listened tentatively, trying to catch on as much information as possible. He managed to find out that the taller male was now a professional baseball player playing for one of Japan's leading baseball team. He told him about his teammate, about his coach, about his team manager, about their little dispute that happened once in a while. Never once did he stop for more than a second. Tsuna knew then that the taller male was filling him in on things that he supposed he already knew.

"Ah, Tsuna, you're done already?" he pointed out unnecessarily when he saw that Tsuna was already done with his omelette. He went on to pouring Tsuna his drink just as Tsuna was about to reach for the jug of orange juice placed in a large bowl of ice. "The kitchen staffs usually serve you a cup of espresso. You know, for you to get through the day. But Gokudera had specifically asked for you to be served an orange juice instead."

Tsuna just stared at the guy, lips apart as he was about to form a sentence.

"I had a feeling they were surprised by the request but didn't ask anything about it. You always wanted a cup of espresso, or sometimes a strong black coffee. Juices are for when you have your days off, not when you have a work to do."

He noticed then…

"But you've just gotten out of the hospital. It wouldn't hurt for you to be cut some slacks. I mean, I saw the ridiculous amount of papers you have to sign. Anyone would have wanted to have a break away from-"

"I'm sorry!" Tsuna blurted.

…that the man was shaking.

Tsuna thought that he had done something wrong when silence surrounded them. He wished he could take those two words back. He must have angered the normally cheerful male. No one liked to be seen when they were obviously in their weakest state. Tsuna would know, for years had he been known as Dame-Tsuna and in every second of it, he never stopped wishing to be seen as someone strong, someone useful.

Laughing slightly, Yamamoto wiped away droplets of salty liquid that managed to escape. "No, I'm sorry."

"Yamamoto-san, I don't – "

"I know you don't remember anything. Gokudera told me."

"I…" Tsuna didn't know what to say. "I can pour the juice myself," he finished lamely, voice so very low that Yamamoto couldn't hear him.

"It's my fault anyway. I came here to confirm things. I want to see for myself if what Gokudera had said is really true. I thought he was just playing a joke on me when you called out my name."

'_I know that he wouldn't joke about something like this, especially when it concerns Tsuna.'_

"I do remember you. We've been in the same school for years," Tsuna argued weakly.

Yamamoto let out a sad chuckle at Tsuna's obvious attempt to erase his woe. He shook his head, "That was more than ten years ago."

Blinking in disbelief, Tsuna questioned, "Did we… Did something happen between us ten years ago?"

"A lot," Yamamoto confirmed, smiling softly. "I found a real friend for the first time in years."

'_The only one who make me realize that it isn't right to smile when I don't want to.'_

Tsuna thought he was hearing wrong. Yamamoto was the most popular guy in school, always known for his friendliness and good looks. Everyone wanted to be his friend and he never failed to act as one. Him, Dame-Tsuna, an unpopular and useless person, managed to become Yamamoto's friend? The idea itself was farfetched! There was no way that someone like Yamamoto would be able to acknowledge his existence. He was always in the shadow.

Suddenly, Yamamoto laughed albeit a forced one. It sounded like it was pushed right out of his heart all the way to his throat and out without him wanting to. It sounded overly fake.

"Let's not talk about this, Tsuna. We have no seconds to waste with us getting sad. Let's try to be-"

Tsuna decided that he didn't like it, that laughter.

"I will get back my memories!" he declared out of the blue, voice quiet but obviously determined.

Tsuna had at least the decency to blush when Yamamoto stared at him as if he was crazy. Tsuna knew that he had always acted purely on instinct since he was little and that had always gotten him into trouble. He shouldn't have said it so easily though. Doing that wasn't like trying to solve a first grader maths problem (which Tsuna actually found difficult to solve back in the days).

"I… I mean, I don't really know how to," Tsuna stated, fidgeting nervously, his right hand playing with the hem of his nightshirt, "I just… That look on your face…"

"I understand."

Tsuna looked up.

"I'm just glad that you're the still the same Tsuna." A full blown smile came to his face, "I know what you were trying to say."

"You do?" Tsuna asked expectantly.

"Not really," the baseball player grinned, causing Tsuna to mentally fell down. "But I'm sure I got the gist of it."

The brunette laughed uncertainly, not knowing if they were still in the same chapter.

"Anyway, thank you, Tsuna." Yamamoto smiled before standing up, "Maa, maa, looks like I've spent too much time here. I was supposed to meet Gokudera about thirty minutes ago," he turned to Tsuna, "You're going to be fine alone here?"

Tsuna nodded, a small assuring smile on his lips. Although, in his mind, he wanted nothing than for the man to stay. He needed a familiar face around and Yamamoto was one. "Don't worry about me."

"Haha, alright. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call me or Gokudera, okay?"

Tsuna just smiled. He waited until Yamamoto left the room before sinking himself against the couch, still on the floor. He didn't want to be alone again, but it was him that said he would be fine. Well, technically, he didn't. He only said not to worry.

His eyes widened as a thought came to mind. _'I should've asked him about okaa-san!'_

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><p>A male nurse, carrying a file containing information on a new patient, entered the little private office belonging to a certain doctor, nodding when a blonde-haired man, the father of the recently released brown-haired man, walked out of the room.<p>

"Doctor, Doctor Costa sent me to give you this – "

"Ah, just put it there on the table."

The nurse smiled understandingly at the stressed-out look the doctor was sporting. "A problem parent again?"

"And friend. I never have been threatened so much for something I didn't cause." The doctor sighed before straightening the crumpled up parts of his white coat. "Yesterday, the friend was about to throw a dynamite at me, earlier the father was practically breathing down my neck asking if there was any way for his son to ever get back to normal. Luckily, the mother just cried yesterday."

"Ah… A patient with overprotective familiars."

The doctor huffed, "Them being overprotective, I don't mind. But blaming me for the fact that their kid becomes an amnesiac is another."

The nurse's posture tensed. "Amnesiac?"

"Hn. Aren't you the one who brought him in? You should've been here when the father kept drilling me with questions, I don't know much except for the fact that he was found lying in front of the backdoor to the nurse's lounge."

His eye flickered red.

"I know nothing much either. Now, if you can just excuse me."

Once the man was out of the room, the doctor shook his head. What was up with that nurse? He had been acting weirdly lately, asking too many questions and acting all downright interested. Not that he couldn't blame, he would be worried too had he was the one who found the boy.

The next day though, he found the nurse enthusiastically going around the buildings running errands that the higher ups gave him. Completely the opposite from how he had acted _a month and a half ago._

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><p>Yamamoto entered the Decimo' office only to see Gokudera answered phone calls after phone calls from the two phones that were positioned haphazardly on the table, somehow not disrupting the piles of papers on it. He couldn't help but smile at seeing the Juudaime's right-hand man working himself off so diligently.<p>

"Need any help, Gokudera?" he asked merrily while closing the door behind him. He went towards the couch where Gokudera was sitting at. "I can take care of the phone calls," he cringed when Gokudera's eyes lit up in a fire of anger as he calmly negotiated with whoever was on the other end. Probably someone of an ally mafia family who Tsuna supposed to have a meeting with this week. He could barely hear the person on the other line yelling at the silver-haired man, cursing at the half Italian for not telling him about it sooner. Of course anyone would be angry when a meeting that was maybe planned ahead was suddenly being postponed to a later date.

A deep sigh came from the silver-haired male as he put the phone down as lightly as he could despite looking like he wanted nothing more than to slam the phone down before the line was actually disconnected. "Don't disturb me while I 'm working, stupid baseball freak!" But despite those words, he abandoned the still ringing phones for the paperworks.

Without hesitating, Yamamoto went to pick up the loudly ringing objects. As he picked up the phone, he could see the bags under the silver bomber's eyes? How long had he been doing this? Did he skip his rest last night? He should've been here earlier.

It was only hours later that the ringing died down. The same could not be said about the paperworks though. Gokudera had finished a huge pile of them but there it seemed like it kept multiplying. Yamamoto wondered how Tsuna could live through this.

_Tsuna…_

That brought him back to the reason why he was meeting Gokudera in the first place. When he looked at the other man, he knew that he was dreading the question if the way he was trying to busy himself with the paperworks was any indication. Yamamoto was not one to waste time, unfortunately for Gokudera, preferring to not stall and instead get straight to it.

"How are we going to tell this to the other Guardians?"

Gokudera acted as if he didn't hear the question. He continued to read through the words on the paper but Yamamoto knew that he wasn't concentrating. He saw the half Italian's eyes scanning the words again and again as if what he was reading couldn't enter his head.

"Gokudera."

Eyes still on the paper.

"Gokudera."

Ripped of a post-it and stuck it onto the paper.

"Gokudera," Yamamoto was losing his calm now, the corner of his lips twitched slightly.

Wrote on the post-it things that Yamamoto had a feeling wasn't related to the paperwork at all.

Releasing a sigh, he pointed out. "Ignoring me won't do anything, Hayato."

The use of his given name got Gokudera's attention. "Don't use my name so familiarly, fucking baseball freak!" But he still didn't turn to Yamamoto.

The tall Japanese had enough. He placed his hand onto Gokudera's, stopping whatever gibberish Gokudera was writing. He had his usual smile on his face but his eyes were serious. "Be serious, Hayato. We have to discuss about this. You don't want any rival famiglia to come and attack Tsuna now, would you?"

Gokudera slapped the hand away, glaring daggers at the baseball player but he found many things true about the swordman's words.

In a calmer voice, Yamamoto said, "I think we should send Tsuna to Japan tomorrow."

As the baseball player had expected, Gokudera was enraged by his statement. "The hell? Do you know how many people out there are out for Juudaime's life? Juudaime lost his fuckin' memories from ten years ago or is that simple fact so difficult for someone like you to get," he spat.

"Be reasona-"

"To hell with being reasonable! You know yourself that you did not think this through!" he accused.

A guilty smile appeared on Yamamoto's face, "You're right. But what could've happened? Tsuna can take care of himself well."

"Reborn haven't come into his life before ten years ago, stupid!"

Gokudera made a good point there, there was a slim chance that Tsuna was able to fight. But… "Hibari will be there to pick him up."

"WHAT? You've told that bastard about this already?" He started to pull out his dynamites. "I thought you have enough brains to at least have my agreement about this."

"Maa, Hayato," Yamamoto started while his hand started moving to his sheathed bamboo sword, ready to defuse the bomb if the silver-haired bomber refused to be reasonable with him.

"Gokudera," the other man growled.

"Gokudera," he let out slowly as if he favoured to say the previous word more than the current one. "I haven't said anything to Hibari, not before I reason with you."

"You said _reason_."

"I'll make you agree no matter what."

"That's one more reason why I shouldn't agree," he growled out, throwing the dynamites at the male in front of him already standing up.

Yamamoto swung his bamboo sword hard, revealing a metal sword. Immediately he moved to cut off the head of the dynamites one by one, eyes narrowing at the realization of the deadly accuracy Gokudera had thrown the bomb at.

"You're practically planning to throw Juudaime into a monster's den! Do you know how uncontrollable that bastard is if he knows about Juudaime's condition?"

"You're underestimating Hibari, Gokudera. He is a Guardian above everything else. I know he is the most violent one of us," Yamamoto paused to catch his breath and defended himself against Gokudera's non-stop assault, "But he is also the strongest of all of us. If anyone can hide any traces that could lead to the enemies finding out about this, it would be Hibari!"

"I am fully capable of protecting Juudaime myself! I'm his right-hand man, dammit!"

"It's because you're his right-hand man that I'm suggesting this!" He heard Gokudera hissed and he knew the bomber ran out of dynamites. _'He must be really down to bring only that much dynamite,' _Yamamoto mused. "Think about it, 'Dera,"he was about to lower his guard down when Gokudera pulled out his revolver. He almost forgot the male was good at any weapons for a long-range attack. "If what you say is true, the enemy must be from around here. You are going to be busy to take over Tsuna's works, senpai is at the Varia and Lambo is staying with Dino for his school. Reborn is out of the question since you don't want him to know about this! I'll be going back to Japan by the end of this week." He paused for a few seconds before continuing, "I'm sure Mukuro is out of question."

Gokudera hesitated, thinking of all the things that Yamamoto had said. He found many things reasonable about what the swordman had said. He couldn't protect Juudaime at all time. Unlike the Cloud Guardian, he had no trusted underlings to help him look after his Juudaime. "Che," he spat before firing one bullet that Yamamoto immediately deflected with a smile at his success. "You're leaving me with the loudest Guardians. Don't blame me if you found them buried six feet underground when you come for a visit the next time."

Grinning, the swordman swung his sword once again, turning it back to the bamboo sword. "I might be greeting them first before you even send them down there."

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><p><strong>AN: Please review ^_^ Oh, the next chapter will be the actual beginning of the story.<strong>


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